Lisa's Lounge

I finally got a photo of my oldest baby that I like. Since she is blind, it's hard to get one of her "looking" at me. You may remember her from a post May 3rd honoring her 15th birthday! She's commonly referred to as Queen Peso, The Mean One, Old Lady, P.D., The Beast... She's a little grumpy, especially where the spoiled Beagle is concerned. She snarls at him just about every time he goes outside. He does his best to avoid her.

Hmmmm... I guess it was only a matter of time before they stuck a corporate sponsor in the name of Disch-Falk Field. Now it is UFCU Disch-Falk Field. You can read about that here. With a little more info about the renovations planned.

As for former Longhorns doing well in the pros, probably the most notable is Huston Street. He's been named AL Rookie of the Year by Sporting News and is a front-runner for the actual American League Rookie of the Year award from the league itself. He was the MVP at the College World Series in 2002, his freshman year. And, I stalked his dad, James Street, at this years College World Series in June. :-) (His twin brothers, Juston and Jordon are currently on the team) I'm betting most of my friends that read this don't know why I would stalk James Street, other than the fact that his son, young enough to be my son, is a hottie! James was a star quarterback and pitcher for UT in the late 60's. If the term were available at the time, I believe my mother would have referred to James as a "hottie" back then. Orange blood runs deep. I am counting down the days! The first game of the season is usually the first weekend in February.

I'm so bad lately (well, for the last 5 years, to be realistic) with remembering birthdates and anniversaries. I've set them all up on my yahoo calendar, but even that hasn't helped. So, each month I'll do a shout out all at once. I'll start with October...

Oct 4 Happy Birthday Tante Lula!
Oct 6 Happy Birthday Marianne!
Somewhere in here Happy Birthday Nooner Chris!
Oct 17 Happy Anniversary Timothy and Lizard Brown!
Oct 25 Happy Birthday Unk Sambo!
Oct 27 Happy Anniversary Baby Cuzzin and Chris Barclay!

I hope I didn't miss any...

:-)

We tried to capture the "essence of Disney" for those that scratch their heads at our obsession... Be sure to right click and "save as" rather than download from here...

This is a group called the Jamitors that perform at Epcot. There are lots of "street acts" like this around Disney.
The Jamitors

These performers are in the China area of World Showcase at Epcot. Truly amazing to watch!
Acrobats

And then there's the Fife & Drum Corps in the American Adventure area. This is their beginning, when they are walking out. At the end they play a medley of patriotic songs and there's usually 20 or so people hanging around singing along.
USA

And other than the film photos yet to be developed, I have pics all organized for your viewing pleasure.... click on photos (all) over there to the left.

So, it's probably old news that things at Disney are expensive. I think Ben and I are numb to it - $5 for a popcorn, $6 for a beer... No different than a rock concert, or a sports event. But it became painfully obvious this time at Epcot. The wonderful Food and Wine Festival offers up many kiosks from different countries that feature food and wine or beer representing that area. So, I go to France early on, because I love French wines. Oui Oui! Anyway, I see that one of their wine offerings is Georges DuBoeuf Chardonnay Reserve. I knowingly paid $3.25 for a glass of this! (see photos below) So tonight, I decided to go to Sam's Club when I got off work. My gurl homies will recognize the bottle. The cost at Sam's? $5.91 plus tax. For the whole bottle. Wow.
(Heh Heh, by the way: Ryan, Laura and I had the chocolate creme brulee. OMIGAWD. It was outstanding. I think I already knew this, but Ryan is a certified, bona fide, CHOCOHOLIC!)

We're back. Walt Disney World did not disappoint. The 10th annual Food and Wine Festival DID NOT disappoint! We had such a good time, relaxing, hanging out at our favorite destination. Of course we can't fly anywhere without issues... Hurricane Wilma stirred herself up while we were in Florida. We luckily got out of there this past Saturday night, pretty much on schedule. It was already storming from the outer bands of the hurricane, so we were delayed by an hour getting out... which caused us to miss our connection in Dallas to Austin last night. We probably could have rented a car and driven home, but we were EXHAUSTED. So, we got in this Sunday morning about 9:30. (Our doggie sitter Socks left Saturday morning for a cruise in the Gulf of Mexico... can't remember where they are ending up) so... Our neighbors across the street came and got HRH the Beagle on Saturday, and he spent the night with them. On their bed. Under the covers. :-) He's rotten. When we went to get him this morning he yelled for a solid 5 minutes, telling us all his woes. I think he missed us.

We spent Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday with Laura and Ryan. Ate and ate and drank and drank. My kinda vacation! Oh, and throw some "Let's ditch the boys and shop" in there... Oh yeah.

I have most of my pictures loaded up at flickr. I started some of the sets by Day 1, Day 2, etc., but am too tired to finish cleaning that up. Go here to check 'em all out. Here's a few I really like:

Beagle: n. One of a breed of small hounds having short legs, drooping ears and a smooth coat with white, black, and tan markings. (And don't forget the white floofy tipped tail!)

We are the proud parents of a 10 year old Beagle. He is commonly referred to as "HRH The Beagle", and although we pay the bills, it is HIS house. He just allows us to stay here. We are, in fact, a little cuckoo over this dog. He has the sweetest temperament. He doesn't bother anything. He's always extremely happy to see us. He sleeps with us, usually under the covers curled up right next to one of us.
<----- cutest dog ever!

I feel compelled to share some of the Beagle-isms that have become part of our every day dialect.

Yes, we are odd.

The Beagle has landed (this phrase is used when he crawls under the covers, twirls around a few times, then plops into instant sleep)

Beagle Rain (to the tune of Purple Rain)

Who’s the Beagle with the Beagliest Beagleness of them all?
E-L-W A –Y Elway Elway Elway! Elway Beagle.. Elway Beagle! Elway Beagle! Elway Beagle!
Forever let him hold his white floofy tail High! High! High! (a mixture of a couple of our obsessions)

I see a little silhouette-a of a Beagle…. (compliments of the late great Freddy Mercury)

BTU’s “Beagle Thermal Units” (created by Auntie Malia)

Smell-way

Let’s go down to the Laundry
Let’s go down to the Laundry….
Let’s go down to the Laundry –
And Lock that Beagle up!
(This is the tune we sing to him each day when he gets "locked up")

He’s a Beagle in looooooove…. (tom petty)

Beagle! You silly little Beagle! Now you put your head in your paws oh no!
(Super Tramp, Dreamer)

Is there a Beagle in da hooouuuuse? I said – Is there a BEAGLE in DA HOOOUUSE?

He’s my little Toot Toot (deuce coupe)

UUUUU-ber Beagle! UUUUU-ber Beagle! (then say it real fast… like with a tenor + an orchestra + choral accompaniment) (I can’t think of the classical music title) UberBeagle! UberBeagle! U – B - --- E---- R BE-E-E-E-E-E-A-GULL!

Leave it to Beagle - Starring Elway Mills AS: The Beagle. (Hum the TV tune)

I know there are more. Hopefully Ben will read this and chime in. At which time I will edit.

Don't you feel so much smarter now? :-)

Ah yes, we have edits....

Malier, lovely sister o' Ben, chimed in for us... Her husband, Pauly the Okie, refers to him as the Dark Beagle of Doom. I believe it has something to do with his charming Beagle odor. (Although this year, it could be because Elway is a Longhorn Fan. And the 'horns whooped up on the land thieves pretty darn well this year. ) ( For a change. ) :0) And Ben antagonizes the poor dog with the words BEAGLE SLAM! Elway runs and hides when he hears that phrase.

And still more - added 10/24/05:
We came up with a couple more while at Disney World
The Beagle's tail spins in a circle, like a propeller, so we sing "Will it go Round in Circles?" to him.
And when he decides to do the doggie thing and hump air, while standing on his hind legs, we sing "Do a little dance, make a little love, get down tonight..."

More to come I'm sure.

As my Disney countdown dwindles.... 4 days, 15 hours, 20ish minutes.... what can I count down to next? Of course, we already have our next Disney trip planned for January 19 -24th, with a trip to visit Mom Mills in there. And shortly, mere DAYS, after that, BASEBALL BEGINS! Oh Yeah!
I think I will next countdown to the first UT baseball game.



I recently filled out a survey that the UT Athletic department sent to a random number of season ticket holders, asking questions about the concessions, would I pay more for "box seats" etc. I really don't want a new stadium, I would just like a coat of paint, more restrooms (with ventilation this time) and better concessions. Oh, and if they could paint the numbers to the rows on the concrete steps going up, that would be nice. Although we love to torment the visiting team's fans... Fan: What row is this? Us: 16, no wait, 12, no wait 18....
Good clean fun, that right there is. 'Specially when it's the aggy of collie station.

So I finally gave in to more compulsive spending... bought a new laptop for home. I've had one for work for about 2 years now. And then maybe 6 months ago or so, my employer introduced me to the broadband anywhere concept of internet connection. Just so happens that the wireless carrier with the corner on the market in our area is also my cell phone carrier... it all works out. Here's the new toy. It makes my GEEK friends proud. (K, CNN, just to name some names...) So, since I'm a pseudo-geek... do I take those stickers off?

Ah, yes. 9 - 1/2 more days. Sweet Vacation. Although I know now for a fact that I'll still have to work some. Totally sucks, but hey. Gots to pay my bills. So, in honor of the upcoming trip, I've been trying to find all our old photos from pre-digital days. Here are some of my faves.






Looking for the Disney photos also brought out some cute ones of the Beagle when he was new to us. He had a brown snout one time! This was one of his first visits to his new Mommy's house out in Taylor.